N.J. education department to consider 32 charter school applications

Patti Sapone/The Star Ledger Lili Meddahi, 8, of Maplewood makes up a sign for the rally in Maplewood. Essex county residents and local legislators rally inside the Maplewood Community Center at DeHart Park to urge Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf to once again reject the Hua Mei charter school application. Hua Mei has decided not to apply for charter school approval this cycle, but 32 other schools have submitted applications.

The state Department of Education will consider 32 applications to open new charter schools across the state including proposals focused on science, fashion and performing arts instruction, a department spokesman said Tuesday.

Expanding access to charter schools is one of Gov. Chris Christie’s education reform priorities, but this application cycle drew 10 fewer applicants than the last round in October. School leaders will learn by September if their plans have been approved.

Most of the applicants propose opening schools in Newark, Paterson or Jersey City, where students enrolled in traditional public schools post low test scores on state exams.

Three applicants are seeking approval to teach students from suburban Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties. Battles against two controversial applicants hoping to open language immersion schools in Highland Park and Maplewood, however, are over.

The founders of Tikun Olam, a proposed Hebrew-language high school, and the founders of Hua Mei, a Mandarin Chinese language high school, both bowed out of this application cycle after multiple attempts to earn state approval.

"We are happy," said Highland Park Superintendent Fran Wood, who has been a staunch opponent of charter school growth in the small town. "We feel there is not a need for the charter in this or surrounding communities."

Wood and a group of vigilant parents and teachers from the affected communities argued charter schools would steer money away from the high quality public schools already in operation.

Six miles from Highland Park, another applicant has proposed opening a science and technology themed charter school in North Brunswick. District Superintendent Bryan Zychowski said approving the school would be "duplicating effort."

"The whole purpose of charters is to fulfill an un-met need," Zychowski said. "We have a robotics program in our middle school and a strong science and technology commitment in our high school. We don’t need a charter school in North Brunswick."

Many of the applicants seeking approval now have applied at least once before. Tracey Williams is making a record sixth attempt to secure state approval to open a charter high school in Montclair.

Applicant Belinda McGuire retired from her tenured position at Newark’s West Side High School to focus exclusively on her application to open the New Jersey Institute of Fashion Charter High School in the city. She has applied twice before and been rejected.

A former fashion design instructor, McGuire said there is a un-met need in Newark for a school like the one she hopes to open — one which would teach about the fashion industry and offer courses on clothing construction, merchandising, entrepreneurship and more.

"This is my passion and students ask me often ‘When will the school be approved? When will this come through?" McGuire said. "God gives everyone a certain mission and this is my mission — to make sure this program is available to kids."